Ungaro is Back

2012 is shaping up to be a year of (attempted) revival for fashion brands. The latest? Ungaro.
Almost exactly a year after it was announced that Giles Deacon, Ungaro's most recent short-lived creative director, had left the company, followed by CEO Jeffrey Aronsson and other advisors, WWD reports that a new team has taken the reigns with plans to return the label to the runway next season.
The new creative director?

2012 is shaping up to be a year of (attempted) revival for fashion brands. The latest? Ungaro.
Almost exactly a year after it was announced that Giles Deacon, Ungaro's most recent short-lived creative director, had left the company, followed by CEO Jeffrey Aronsson and other advisors, WWD reports that a new team has taken the reigns with plans to return the label to the runway next season.
The new creative director?

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2012 is shaping up to be a year of (attempted) revival for fashion brands. The latest? Ungaro.

Almost exactly a year after it was announced that Giles Deacon, Ungaro's most recent short-lived creative director, had left the company, followed by CEO Jeffrey Aronsson and other advisors, WWD reports that a new team has taken the reigns with plans to return the label to the runway next season.

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The French fashion house has embarked on a partnership with Aeffe, an Italian manufacturer who also controls Alberta Ferretti and Moschino. Aeffe has tapped up-and-comer Fausto Puglisi, whose designs have been worn by the likes of Anna Dello Russo and Madonna, as the new creative director.

That the house's attempts to turn itself around last year with Deacon and Aronsson, (whose proven track record at brands like Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Oscar de la Renta got him a reputation as a "turnaround expert") were unsuccessful must have meant that on some level the house was beyond repair. Before Deacon, the house saw a revolving door of creative directors ranging from Giambattista Valli to Lindsay Lohan [Ed. note: Oh, how fondly remember those heart-shaped pasties].

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The deal with Aeffe is actually a license--wherein the Italian company can produce and distribute product under the Ungaro moniker. According to WWD, the license is active for seven years with the option to renew.

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It's been about a year and a half since Giles Deacon replaced, um, Lindsay Lohan as creative director at Ungaro. His first collection showed at Paris Fashion Week spring 2011 and today, with the spring 2012 show imminent, Ungaro and Deacon have announced that their collaboration has come to an end. WWD reports that both parties are calling it a mutual decision rather than a firing, and we're not entirely surprised. The fashion house has seen a revolving door of creative directors over the past few years.
Giambattista Valli, Peter Dundas, Vincent Darre, Esteban Cortazar and then Lindsay and Estrella Archs all passed through before Deacon, and none of them lasted more than a couple of seasons. The troubled brand also hired a new CEO this year, Jeffry Aronsson, who previously held chief executive positions at Donna Karan International, Marc Jacobs International and Oscar de la Renta and is expected to turn the brand around.

Things aren't looking good at the house of Emmanuel Ungaro. In fact, they haven't for a while. Just three months after Giles Deacon left his roughly year-long tenure as creative director, WWD is reporting that the company's new CEO, Jeffry Aronsson, is leaving, as well as much of the house's advisory committee.
Aronsson has only been with the company since June and was brought in with the hopes of turning the failing company around, as he is considered to be a "turnaround expert," based on successful CEO positions at Donna Karan International, Marc Jacobs International and Oscar de la Renta previously.

Giles Deacon has officially confirmed his new post as creative director at Emanuel Ungaro.
"Various things have happened at the house recently which for legal reasons the company can't comment on - but I like to think of the bigger picture," Deacon told Vogue UK early this morning.
"The house and its legacy have a lot more to them than that - and there will be announcements over the coming weeks about the business. I can't talk about them yet but various changes are being put in place."